End Water Poverty is the international campaign that aims to bring an end to the global water and sanitation crisis.
We are formed of organisations from around the world, demanding urgent action and leadership from donors and governments alike.
Only together, with one voice, can we tackle this devastating crisis that affects billions of poor people across the world.
Read our blog for the latest news on water and sanitation advocacy and join us on www.endwaterpoverty.org too.

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Starting off with a bang of thunder and strong words of action

Writing this amidst brilliant thunderstorms in Johannesburg from the 2nd Africa Water Week. Governments, donors, the private sector and civil society under one roof for a week – it’s bound to get interesting.

Sunday was great – a pre meeting civil society consultation which was organised by our friends at ANEW – the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation. It was a chance for NGOs working on water and sanitation to come together and discuss the themes set for Africa Water Week and write a position statement on them. I was really pleased to be asked to share news about End Water Poverty and developments on our policy platform – the Global Framework for Action. I also got a chance to let people know about the World’s Longest Toilet Queue – an event we’ll be launching soon – and give the guide it’s first viewing!

Even better though was participating in discussions on the themes – including transboundary waters, addressing the sanitation gap, climate change adaptation and financing of the sector.

In forming our joint statement, not only did we make strong calls to our governments to deliver on their commitments, we also outlined actions we will take ourselves following the meeting– from lobbying and advocacy activities to monitoring implementation of projects. You can read the final statement here.

A great meeting on the Global Framework for Action also happened on Sunday - with positive discussions and developments, and we also have a meeting on the Framework to which all delegates are invited on Wednesday - updates to follow.

So a great start to the week – with much more promised for the next few days. Updates on Day 1 and Day 2 coming shortly!